📰 You are not behind on AI

Lately, it feels like you cannot turn around without somebody talking about artificial intelligence. The news, the grandkids, the fellow ahead of you in the coffee line. And if a quiet part of you has been thinking "I will get to it eventually," I want you to hear something today: there is no race, and you are not late.

Here is what I want to leave you with:

Here is something that might surprise you. Most people your age have not jumped in either. A recent Pew Research survey found that a majority of adults 50 to 64, and roughly three-quarters of those 65 and older, say they never use chatbots like ChatGPT. And most of them do not feel they are missing a thing.

So if you have been taking your time, you are not behind. You are in the majority. The goal is not to catch anyone. It is simply to understand what this thing is, in plain terms, so you can decide for yourself whether it is any use to you. And for the people who have tried it, the picture is a calm one: far more of them say it helps them get things done and stay informed than say it gets in the way.

So what does using ChatGPT actually look like? Simpler than you might expect. You open it, you type a question in plain English, the same way you would ask a helpful neighbor, and it types an answer back. The part that surprises most people is that you can just keep talking. If the answer runs too long, you say "make it shorter." If something is unclear, you say "explain that more simply." It is a conversation, not a test, and there is no wrong way to ask.

If you would like to see a real back-and-forth before you ever touch it yourself, AARP has a clear walk-through that shows exactly how it flows: someone asking for travel ideas, then following up with "are any near Tanglewood?" and "how do I get tickets?" AARP: What Is ChatGPT and How Can You Use It? One honest note they make, and I will repeat it: it can occasionally get something wrong, so you check anything that matters. But watching how it works is the whole first step. Nothing to set up, nothing to buy, nothing to get wrong by reading.

Here is the honest version. If you take a few minutes to see how it works, the mystery starts to lift. AI stops being a vague thing happening to other people and becomes a tool sitting quietly on your screen, there if you want it. You do not have to use it for anything grand. Plenty of folks just use it to word a tricky birthday note, make sense of a confusing letter, or settle a "what year was that movie" question at the dinner table.

And if you do not? Nothing is lost, and you will be just fine. But a little of the low hum of worry, the sense that something important is passing you by, tends to quiet down once you see how plain and unhurried it really is.

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So here is all I am asking this week, and it is small. Take a look at how it works. Even just reading that AARP walk-through counts. That is your one step.

And if a part of you would like to try one small thing yourself, with no pressure at all, I once wrote an issue built around one simple, everyday prompt you can paste in: A simple way to use ChatGPT today. It is there if you want it, and just as fine to leave for another day.

If you feel like it, reply with one word: curious, or not yet. Either one is a perfectly good answer, and I read every reply.

Talk soon,
Bob

If you're curious about the guy behind these emails, I put a few stories and photos over at bobcaine.com. No pressure, just a place to see the face behind the scre